Borders, Frames, Setting Triangles, and Quilting....

This is my last "official" post on the SAQ.  From time to time, I'll keep you updated on how the quilting process is coming along.  This is has been a fun quilt...but I'm ready to begin discussing other projects.  I'm currently piecing the Mothers of the Bible Quilt.  The Bee I'm in chose this as our year long project and it has become an adventure and a half.  More on that later, but I am thoroughly enjoying it and have definitely been challenged by this quilt -- in a good way.  I'm also teaching a couple of women to quilt. These ladies are beginners and we just worked our way through a pillow.  We've now moved on to a small quilt.  We're using West Virginia Memories for this project.  It is a great beginner project!  So if you're starting out or are teaching beginners, I really recommend this pattern. If you want to know more about how to order it and who designed it (not me), leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail and I'll fill you in.

Now on the SAQ....

The Fortress Star that you made as the last square is actually the middle block for the center medallion.

You'll add four strips to this block for borders.  Each of the strips is heavily appliqued -- hence my encouragement earlier to work on all the applique as you are piecing all the other blocks.  The borders contain 32 leaves, eight complex buds, bias strips for the vines, and 44 circles that are about the size of a nickle.  Due to the small circumference of those circles, I strongly recommend the quilter either use Circle-Eze (my gadget of choice for this project) or Perfect Circle.  Either will work.  Sometimes circles are large enough you can needle turn them successfully.  These circles are too tiny for that. 

The corners on the center medallion are mitered.  The book contains no directions for mitering, but the pattern is so clearly marked that it does make mitering a breeze, even if you have little experience in mitering. 

The frame around the center medallion is also mitered, but there is no pattern for this, only cutting directions.  The above picture is the center without the frame. Below is the medallion with the frame:

And here is a picture of the quilt with the setting triangles.  I was lucky enough to find a batik at Dragonfly that pulled all my colors together beautifully!

Now, let's talk about quilting.  There are three possible options:  Long arm it, machine quilt it, or hand quilt it.  The option you chose is up to you.  The quilt is assembled in three parts...

so machine quilting or hand quilting are immediate options.  Of course, to long-arm it, all three pieces would have to be sewn together. 

I decided since I had so much "hand time" in my quilt (all of my applique is needle-turn), to put a long arm or a machine to it to quilt it may devalue it.  So I'm hand quilting mine...

Note the really neat variegated thread I found to match everything!  It's King Tut brand and yes, it's for machine quilting but it does just fine in hand quilting.  I purchased the thread at Dragon Fly.

Carolina Lily and Fortress Star

This blog covers the last two blocks in the Southern Album Quilt.  Next week, I'll discuss the applique border around the center medallion, the setting triangles, and putting the whole thing together.  I'm in the middle of quilting mine now, so I will also upload some pictures of how that's going.  Then from time to time, I'll feature pictures of how it's progressing.  I'm hand quilting it, and am anticipating that it will take about a year to complete...that is if my move doesn't take forever and a day.

Yes, I'm moving...and more pictures will be featured of my old "new" house and my brand, spankin' new quilt studio which is three times the size of my present studio.

Meanwhile, back to the Carolina Lily.  I've made this block at least a half a dozen times in other quilts and I would like to say unequivocally that the directions given in the Southern Album Quilt are the most difficult I've ever had to follow.  I redid this block three times before I finally just gave up.  It seemed no matter how on earth I cut out and put this one together, it always came up to be 10.5 inches by 10.5 inches.  All the blocks, except the whole cloth applique, are 12.5 by 12.5 when complete.  To make up the difference, I simply sewed a frame around mine like this...

My advice to anyone is either A) do what I did...follow the directions given in the book and then sew a border around the block to make up the difference or B) use another Carolina Lily block that you've successfully pieced before.

Oy-vey....I was turning cartwheels when this block was done because I was so happy just to have it FINISHED.

Fortress Star is the last pieced block in the quilt. 

This block goes together pretty quickly.  The cutting directions on this one are a little different, but they are written clearly.   Read them completely through a couple of times before putting rotary cutter to fabric.  And it's much easier to sew this block together on the diagonal.

There you go...the blocks are complete.  You should feel really good about yourself.  Now comes the fun part...putting this sucker together.

Cotton and Turkeys and Birds... Oh My....



It's Spring and the temperatures are moderating and the plants are "greening" up.  My pansies are making a great last stand before I have to make way for petunias and geraniums.  Whether you live out in the country (like I do) or in the city limits, birds are also nesting.  The trees are full of nests and if you're a quilter, there's a way you can help our feathered friends and make good use of your quilting scraps. 

All year long, I save all those narrow strips of fabric that you cut off with your rotary cutter when you're cutting out squares or evening the edges of your fabric.  Trim these down to about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch across and 3 to four inches long.  As soon as the birds start making their nests, bundle them up and loosely tie them together with some twine and hang them on a branch. 

And if you love hummingbirds, you're really in luck.  They tend to gravitate towards the brightly colored fabric. 

Now on to the Southern Album Quilt...

The next square you'll be working on is the  Cotton Boll.  This is the last of the whole cloth applique blocks and has more curves and small pieces than the other ones.  However, I do hope that you have been working on the whole cloth applique blocks all along and haven't waited until the last minute to start them. 

Turkey Tracks in Rice Fields is a challenge.  As usual, piece the block first, do the applique and then complete the embroidery.  This is a great block in one way.  You get practice with the "Y" seams and the way Kristin Steiner and Diane Wilson approach those seams is realtively painless.  There are a couple of more blocks in the quilt where their Y seam technique comes into play, so you'll come away pretty comfortable with this technique.

There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when constructing this block.  First, disregard the insturctions in the book on E and E Rev.  Instead, cut a 1 1/2 inch strip the width of the fabric and then continue with the instructions in the book where it picks up at "cut a strip of fabric 1 1/2 inch.  Second, when you're marking the dots 1/4 inch away from the endges on B, E, and E Rev pieces, be sure to mark them accurately.  Third, look closely at the stitching directions for joining pieces B, E, and E Rev.  Follow them and you won't have a problem.  Do the same when you dot the corner of all the A pieces of fabric and join them to the B/E//E Rev pieces.

Turkey Tracks in Rice Fields is a challenge, but the results are a beautiful block.  This is not a block you can rush through and you may end up taking it apart a few times before it suits you.

Sweet Tea, Pine Trees, and Pretty Stuff....

Sweet Tea Stars is the name of this block and if you're from the South (or Pennsylvania -- which as a surprising number of sweet tea drinkers), you're well acquainted with sweet tea.  As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here drinking a large half-and-half from McAllisters even as I write this.  A "half-and-half" is a beverage that consists of half unsweet tea and half sweet tea.  As much as I love my tea, I've eschewed white sugar for so long, that full-on sweet tea makes my teeth hurt.  The only exception to the white tea rule is my morning coffee -- and God forbid anything or anyone tinker with that.

Again, this is a pieced and appliqued block, so piece first, then applique.  The curves around the tea leaves are tight, so clip the concave curves carefully and work under with the tip of a dampened toothpick for best results. 

Audubon Pines is one of those blocks that looks so simple, you're bound to make a mistake.  If you love to do half square triangles, it's your party time!  As you assemble this block, just be sure that all your colored triangles point in the right direction.  I got this square completely put together and was tucking it away in my box when I realized I had one block turned the opposite direction...and it just had to be in the middle of the block.  So it took another half an hour to take the thing apart and put it back together.  This is one you definitely want to layout, look at, walk away for awhile, and then come back to with fresh eyes to make sure it's all correct.

Now for some pretty stuff...

I finished with all my blocks for this Southern Album Quilt, but still needed the material for my setting triangles, since this quilt is set on point.  I'm also one of these quilters that never buys the triangle material, backing material, or border material until I'm through with all my blocks.  Drives a lot of my quilt friends crazy, but this system has always worked for me.  So when I was ready to cut these triangles, I took the squares and trotted up to Dragonfly Quilt Shop on Eastchester and as usual, those ladies had exactly what I needed...

Isn't it beautiful?  Then, I found this thread to quilt it with:

Yummy....